Permit to persons living permanently outside the EEA

If you have no permanent place of residence within the European Economic Area (EEA), you need a permit from the Finnish Patent and Registration Office (PRH) to operate as a private trader in Finland. In practice, we have granted permits to persons who live permanently in Switzerland. This practice is based on the Lugano Convention. We will not assess or resolve any permit matter before processing it.

Application fee

The application fee is 120 euros. A delivery and invoicing charge of 12 euros will be added to the fee. We charge the fees afterwards.

Representative in Finland

The trader must have a representative who is entitled to receive summons and other notifications on behalf of the trader. If the PRH has granted you a permit to operate as a private trader in Finland, file a notification of your representative with the Trade Register. The representative must have a permanent place of residence in Finland.

No separate representative needs to be appointed and registered if the private trader is resident within the EEA.

What to do with the permit

Once you have the permit, enclose a certified copy of the PRH’s permit decision with your start-up notification.